The fire crackled and illuminated their small campsite. It was late and they were all sitting around drinking the beer that Charming had brought with him. They had even let Henry have his first beer, telling him if he was going to be camping with the men then he had to have a man's drink. Rumpel had rolled his eyes at the scene and drank from his beer, and thought how he would rather be at home. Now things had settled down and they had the campsite set up, Rumpel sat in one of the camping chairs Gideon had brought, gazing up at the stars above him.
"Hook," Charming shoved Hook beside him on the log. "When are you finally going to set a date for the wedding? You and Emma have been engaged quite a while now."
Hook shrugged his shoulders. "I've left that to Emma to decide. It's better if she does things in her own time. I don't want her running off."
"Or driving off." Rumpel added, still looking at the stars above them.
"Or that." Hook said, waving his hook in Rumpel's direction.
Henry was writing in his notebook. "She's not going to run. She's happy now. Her family is here."
"You probably need to nudge her a little." Gideon said before sipping from his bottle of beer. "Look how long it took my mother to get my father."
Rumpel frowned and looked over to his son in the other camp chair. "What does that mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. She had to drag you kicking and screaming out of your shell." Gideon explained to his father.
Rumpel turned his gaze from Gideon to the fire. He knew his son was probably right, but he did not want that fact to content for idle gossip. His reputation over the years had started to lose its weight. People were now coming into his shop and buying things. They would greet him in the street and tried to stop him to have a conversation about how things were going and how Belle was. It was foreign territory to him. He was used to people shunning him and treating him like nothing.
"Maybe I should have a talk with her when we return tomorrow." Hook said, but it sounded like he was talking to himself.
"I know Snow is dying to get started on planning your wedding." Charming told Hook before swigging his beer. "She has this book under our bed where she has ideas of what to do."
"Is this where we have a big carriage through town and a church full of snow blossoms, with little birdies holding Emma's trail?" Rumpel questioned, smirking at the thought.
"Hey! That's not a bad idea. Remind me to tell Snow." Charming's eyes widen at Rumpel's idea and pointed his beer towards Rumpel.
"Oh, no." Rumpel muttered as he covered his face with his hand, shaking his head at the thought of the Charmings doing his idea. There was chorus of laughter in the campsite. Gideon's hand tapped Rumpel on his shoulder, making the older man drop his hand from his face to look at his son. He smiled seeing his son's face lit up, a similar look that Belle had when she was laughing. They had only been apart for an evening so far and he was already missing her.
Unconsciously Rumpel rubbed at his chest over his heart, a small painful flutter from his heart had started in his chest. Thinking it was the beer, he put the beer down on the ground beside his chair, leaving it for a bit to let his stomach settle as he decided it must be heartburn. The others began to joke about other ideas for the wedding, but Rumpel was not listening. The pain in his chest was beginning to become uncomfortable, making him press his hand into his chest. It was moving. The pain was expanding.
He groaned at the pain and leant forward in his chair, Gideon was immediately at his father's side with his hand on his shoulder as he asked. "What's wrong?"
"Zelena must be here." Rumpel managed to get out, breathless at the pain.
The group began looking around the area, standing up from their seats, as Charming said. "She was in custody when we left town. Emma wasn't going to release her till tomorrow."
"She must have escaped." Henry said, dropping his notebook and pen to the ground at his feet.
"Can I help?" Gideon asked his father, leaning over to look at his father's face.
"No." Rumpel whispered, blinking at the pain that was moving up his spine.
"I would have thought she would have made her presence known by now. She can't help but take credit." Hook said, moving to get a better look at the woods behind Gideon and Rumpel.
Charming moved over to Rumpel and Gideon and knelt beside Rumpel. "Are you sure, it must be Zelena?"
"I have no idea." Rumpel clutched at his jumper. "It just hurts." Someone's phone started to ring distantly. Everyone dug into their pockets and bags to pull out their phones. Gideon's phone was the one ringing, becoming louder when he drew it out of his pocket.
As he flipped opened the phone to answer it, Rumpel grasped at Gideon's hand and whispered. "Belle!"
"Hello." Gideon answered whilst he frowned at his father. "What!" The others came closer, trying to listen to the one sided conversation. "Right, okay. We're coming." He hung up his phone and said to the group. "We need to get back to town. My mother is in labour."
"What!" Rumpel exclaimed sitting up in his chair, forgetting about the pain.
"It's okay." Gideon tried to soothe his father. "She's already at the hospital. Dr Whale is looking after her."
Rumpel grumbled as he stood. "That man can't even look after himself. He especially can't look after my Belle!"
"Okay, Henry put the fire out. Hook help me pack up the camp." Charming began to give out orders, but as he turned to speak to Rumpel and Gideon, Rumpel waved his hand and disappeared from the campsite.
Reappearing, Rumpel stood in front of the doors to the hospital with his hand absently rubbing over his heart. He took a deep breath and entered the hospital, the doors opening to allow him entrance. There were several people running around, nurses and doctors coming and going. As he neared the foyer, Rumpel noticed Emma and Regina stood talking near the elevator and stairs. Regina was the first to spot him and quickly guided Emma over to him with a hand on her arm.
"Rumpel!" Regina called as the two crossed the foyer.
"Where is she?" Rumpel's voice was deep.
"It's okay. Dr Whale is attending to her as we speak." Emma reached a hand out to touch him but retracted it when he glared at her approaching hand.
"Where is she!" He growled as his hand at his side tightened into a fist and his hand over his chest rubbed harder at the pain.
Regina was braver and stepped in front of him, her hands grabbing him by his shoulders. "Listen to me, Rumpel. She's in a bad way. Let them deal with her, they know what they're doing."
"Take your hands off me!" He snapped at her, the threat in his voice made her jump and drop her hands. "If you don't tell me where my Belle is, I'm going to lose it!" The throbbing in his chest began to subside. The two women looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Over their shoulders, he saw Dr Whale come around the corner distantly down the corridor.
Rumpel pushed through the two women, uncaring if he knocked them over, and strode purposefully at Dr Whale. "Whale!"
Dr Whale's face looked shocked seeing Rumpel storming towards him. "Rumpelstiltskin."
"Where's my wife!" He said to the shell-shocked man. Passing some people that had been chatting in the corridor, Rumpel got a better look at Dr Whale, the front of his scrubs covered in bright red blood. A lot of blood. He lost momentum and slowed to a shuffle at the sight of the blood, his temper and panic making way for his worry.
Rumpel slumped against the corridor wall. "No. Please, no."
Dr Whale followed Rumpel's gaze and saw the blood on himself. Quickly crossing to Rumpel, the doctor grabbed the other man by his shoulders as he spoke to him. "It's okay, Rumpel. She's stable and resting. It was hit and miss for a second with Belle. But, she's stable. We stopped the bleeding."
"Belle." Rumpel muttered to himself, holding his face in his hands to hide the tears.
"They're taking her to a private room. As soon as they get her settled, I'll get someone to come and get you." Dr Whale told Rumpel and then said. "You could go and see your daughter."
Another pair of hands touched Rumpel's back, as he dropped his hands to gaze at Dr Whale. "My daughter?"
"Yes." Dr Whale smiled and squeezed Rumpel's shoulders. "She's already up at the baby unit."
"I'll take him." Regina said to Dr Whale, guiding Rumpel away from the wall and Dr Whale. He let Regina lead him, putting one foot in foot of the other. He had been out laughing and having a good time with their family while his Belle had been lying on a hospital bed fighting for her life. His hand rubbed over his face, trying to get rid of the guilt as another wave of tears fell. In one evening, his whole world had nearly ended and he had not been there.
Rumpel wiped at his face with the sleeve of his jumper, trying to reinstate his mask to hide his feelings. It did not work as he closed his eyes and more tears escaped. Angry with himself for being so weak and not being there for Belle, he struck out at the wall beside him, abruptly causing Regina to come to halt as he punched the wall repeatedly.
"Whoa!" Regina tried to grab hold of him again. "Stop it!" Rumpel punched the wall even harder at her request. The plasterboard began to crack and stained it with three faint dots of blood. Another hit and another set of red dots appeared on the wall. He hit the wall a few more times, the blooded dots became brighter and heavier.
She grabbed his hands and clung them to her chest, standing between him and the innocent wall. "STOP!"
"WHY!" He yelled at her, shaking her to release her hold, and pounded her against the wall. "WHY THE HELL SHOULD I!"
"Because Belle and your daughter need you." She said quietly to him. Her words undid him. They broke him and tore down his remaining walls of protection. Rumpel sunk down onto his knees in the middle of the corridor and gave Regina no choice but to follow him down onto the floor. He shook as he openly cried in front of her. She swallowed hard and drew him into a hug, unsure what to do with her oldest friend.